Losing A Horse

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For those of us riders who have lost a beloved horse. Here we can talk about losing a best friend, what happened and where a rider can go after that! Members can offer advice, share stories and ask questions!

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I didn't buy my 'new' horse as a replacement - I bought him 6 years ago and it's taken me that long to realise that he wasn't what I had hoped he would be. He's gorgeous (as you can see by the photo) but he's not what I thought. In a not good way. He is a man with issues! Ha ha. But that's ok. There's no comparison with Misty and there never has been. What I mean is that now I've let go of focusing all my emotional energy on him I can finally acknowledge what Misty also meant to me.

I do not think that any horse can replace our deepest equine friends. In a way it is not fair to the new horse to expect the same experience. It takes so long to get a true connection with a horse that it is easy to miss that you are starting a new connection with the new horse. It is just different. Like with people.
At least when I stopped thinking that other horse should be like Hat Tricks I got a lot better results.

I I have some pictures of Misty but I really like the idea of a collage. I think it helps to do something constructive and positive and it is also something that will endure. Great idea.

I lost my pony three years ago now, and I think for the first couple of years I was in shock and probably quite relieved in a way, - it's horrible watching them get worse and worse and feeling so helpless. I was sure she was ready to go when she did and I have no regrets surrounding her actual death.

I don't mean to sound all morbid, but I also lost my dad last year and this year I finally realised that my current horse isn't going to be what I thought he was, so I think experiencing those other losses have cleared the way for me to really remember how special Misty was and how lucky I was to have her. I really didn't know it at the time.

It feels like there have been many years of 'struggle' and now I've finally started to 'let go' of all that. Wow! What a journey. Sorry for going on and on ...

I had my old mare for 25 years and she was 38 when she died. She had a rotated coffin bone in one of her front hooves and we tried for ages to treat it. She had no teeth and needed all her feed to be soaked and mashed up - in the end she just used to suck hay and spit it out! But she still walked quicker than my other horse and showed more spirit than some much younger horses. I had been thinking we were losing the battle with the lameness but she was still quite perky and I was struggling with the decision to keep her alive or have her put down.
The day I had to have her put down she made the decision for me and came in from the field with colic - so the decision was easy. I miss her terribly and I look back now and realise that i had a hell of a pony that I didn't really appreciate. Now I live by the seaside and we have beautiful beaches to ride on, but i don't have a horse who is prepared to share all of that with me like she was. It's tough.

On September 17/09 my five month old miniature horse colt had to be put down from tetanus. We purchased Fling when he was a month old and brought him home when he was four months old, and then after about a month he got really sick, and we found out he had tetanus. We had given him his tetanus shot as soon as we got him but it was too late because the person we purchased him from hadn't wormed or vaccinated him so he was really run down and had a higher chance of getting tetanus and he did.
I cried for days, still cry (I mean it was only like 3 weeks ago), It sucks because he was my first foal I was raising and he replaced his mom with me and he just loved me so much, and now he's gone. It makes me feel so bad that his life had just begun and then so suddenly it was over and I know it wasn't my fault but I just feel SO terrible.

Yeah, I had to put my beloved Hat Tricks down at age 33 for a twisted gut over a decade ago. I still miss him. Horses can live so much longer than dogs that we get so we think they will last forever, and it is real hard to lose them.
Allow yourself to grieve, you lost an old family friend, one you could count on. I cried alot over losing Hat Tricks, luckily everyone understood.